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Hancock
Hancock is a 2008 American superhero comedy-drama film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock (Smith) from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars. Eventually one person he saves, Ray Embrey (Bateman), makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better. Plot John Hancock is an alcoholic who possesses superpowers, including flight, invulnerability, and superhuman strength. While performing superhero-like acts in Los Angeles, he is often ridiculed and hated by the public for his drunken and careless acts, and becomes enraged when referred to as an "asshole." Hancock rescues Ray Embrey, a public relations specialist, from an oncoming train, which he irrationally derails to save Ray. Thankful and seeing him as a career opportunity, Ray offers to help improve Hancock's public image. Hancock meets Ray's family, his son Aaron, who is a fan, and his wife Mary, who takes an immediate dislike to Hancock. Ray encourages Hancock to issue a public apology, and then go to prison for a time, until Los Angeles needs him properly. Hancock reluctantly agrees, struggling to fit in prison, and quickly causes trouble when he assaults two fellow inmates that refuse to leave him alone. Hancock is visited by Ray's family, encouraging him to be patient. Los Angeles' crime rate rises, and Hancock is eventually released to help, wearing a combat outfit. He foils a bank robbery orchestrated by Red Parker, with Hancock slicing off his hand to prevent him from activating a detonation switch. He is praised as a hero, and becomes popular. Hancock reveals to Ray and Mary that he is amnesiac and an immortal, waking up in a hospital eighty years ago with no memory of his identity. He also learns Mary isn't Aaron's biological mother, and is Ray's second wife. Carrying a drunk Ray home, Hancock kisses Mary, only for her to toss him through the wall, revealing she has superpowers too. The next day, Hancock and Mary speak in private. Mary claims they have lived for three thousand years, are the last of their kind, and are siblings. Hancock disbelieves her about the last fact, and flies away to inform Ray, only for Mary to chase him and incite a violent battle across the city. Ray witnesses the fight, later confronting the duo. Mary admits Hancock used to be her husband in another life. That night, Hancock stops a liquor store robbery, only to be shot multiple times, and is hospitalized. Mary appears, explaining that when the immortals paired up, they would slowly lose their powers, becoming mortals. The last time Hancock and Mary were together was eighty years before, when Hancock was attacked; his amnesia is a result of the attack. Parker, who escaped prison with several other criminals, attacks the hospital to get revenge. Mary is caught in the crossfire and injured. Hancock recovers, killing the criminals, but is further injured. Parker tries to kill him, but Ray kills Parker with a fire axe. Hancock throws himself out of the hospital, taking great leaps and bounds to restart Mary's heart, before flying off towards the Moon. A month later Ray and his family receive a call from Hancock, revealing he has imprinted the Moon's surface with Ray's AllHeart marketing logo. In a mid-credits scene, Hancock approaches a criminal in New York City, who calls him an asshole, much to his fury. Cast * Will Smith as John Hancock, an alcoholic superhero.2 Hancock is invulnerable, immortal, possesses superhuman strength, reflexes and stamina, highly developed regeneration, and can fly at supersonic speeds.3 He is also an amnesiac; his first memories are of waking up alone in a hospital in 1931. During his release, the duty nurse asked him for his "John Hancock", which he adopted as his current alias. Smith described the character, "Hancock is not your average superhero. Every day he wakes up mad at the world. He doesn't remember what happened to him and there's no one to help him find the answers."4 To give a realistic appearance of superhero flight, Smith was often suspended by wires 60 feet (18 m) above the ground and propelled at 40–50 miles per hour (64–80 km/h).5 * Charlize Theron as Mary Embrey, Ray's wife and Hancock's ex-wife who also has powers and abilities like him, but they are both becoming weak as they are close to each other. Theron described Mary, "She makes this conscious decision to live in suburbia and be this soccer mom to her stepson and be the perfect wife—she lives in this bubble. But when people do that it usually means they are hiding some characteristic inside themselves that scares them. That is Mary's case. She knows who she is and what she is capable of."6 * Jason Bateman as Ray Embrey, a corporate public relations consultant whose life Hancock saves. Bateman said, "My character sees life through rose-colored glasses so he doesn't understand how people can't see the positive side of Hancock. I like being the everyman. I like being the tour guide, the one who tethers whatever absurdity might be in a film and helps make that tangible to the audience."7 * Eddie Marsan as Red Parker, a bank robber who later becomes Hancock's arch-nemesis. Having previously filmed the low-budget Happy-Go-Lucky, Marsan found the transition to the big-budget Hancock to be a shock. Marsan said, "I went from being in a car with Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky to blowing up a bank in downtown LA."8 Gallery Trivia Category:2008